A Marvel Hero No Longer Has Their Signature MCU Weapon

Marvel’s Gang War crossover event has left an MCU star without their signature weapons. The publisher’s street-level heroes are assembling to combat the rising war between the different gangs, all battling for territory in New York City. Gang War has spilled out of the pages of Amazing Spider-Man to several tie-ins and spinoffs, including Shang-Chi’s Deadly Hands of Kung Fu. As leader of the Five Weapons Society, Shang-Chi is in charge of Chinatown. He’s worked hard to turn the Five Weapons Society from an evil organization, led by his father Zheng Zu, into one that can be looked at with honor. It helps that Shang-Chi is now the owner of the mystical Ten Rings, but can he still protect Chinatown without them?

*WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #1. Continue reading at your own risk!

Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #1 comes from the creative team of Greg Pak, Caio Majado, Jim Campbell, and VC’s Travis Lanham. It finds Shang-Chi and Chinatown engulfed in the ongoing Gang War. As eager as the Five Weapons Society army is to take advantage of the chaos, Shang-Chi is taking a more neutral approach. Since the war hasn’t been directly brought to Chinatown’s footsteps, Shang-Chi sees no reason to interfere. Even when Lady Yulan and her vampires try to invade, the Master of Kung Fu easily defeats them. Spider-Man may be wary of Shang-Chi’s motivations, but he is really trying to keep the peace. If only he could trust the soldiers under his command.

Captain Feng, who used to serve Shang-Chi’s father, attempts a power play when it appears Shang-Chi is injured in a battle against Mister Negative. Feng uses sorcerers to imprison the Ten Rings and tries to kill Shang-Chi in order to return the Five Weapons Society to their former glory. However, Shang-Chi was merely pretending to be hurt to sniff out any traitors like Captain Feng. While Shang-Chi defeats Captain Feng, the Ten Rings are still in a prison he cannot break. 

Can Shang-Chi be a hero without his Ten Rings?

Simu Liu portrayed Shang-Chi in the titular Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The MCU film concluded with Shang-Chi defeating his father, Xu Wenwu, and taking possession of the Ten Rings. The post-credits scene of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings featured Wong, Captain Marvel, and Bruce Banner studying the Ten Rings to discover their origin. Unfortunately, they walked away with more questions than answers.

The question moving forward in future issues of Deadly Hands of Kung Fu is, can Shang-Chi stop the rising Gang War without the command of his Ten Rings? The other heads of the crime organizations will see Shang-Chi as vulnerable, and will most likely make a move on Chinatown. Plus, what will heroes like Spider-Man think about Shang-Chi’s leadership of the Five Weapons Society? We’ll have to wait until Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #2 to find out.